Exaltation of the Cross

The readings of the past two weeks called us again to the cross.  In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”  This involves the re-ordering of possessions, relationships (mother, father, sister, brother), projects (building of castles), and campaigns (battles), and placing Jesus first in all things.  Essentially the cross is to become our one prized possession, relationship, project and campaign.  What does Jesus mean by this?

This past weekend we celebrated the Feast, the Exaltation of the Cross, the ultimate demonstration of the nature of God.  Unlike Good Friday when we stand before the stark cross and mourn the death of our innocent Messiah, this past Sunday we stood before the glorious cross and praised God for his incomprehensible goodness.  The means of death (or poison, as expressed in the first reading of the Book of Numbers, as a dead serpent is hung on a seraph to become the vehicle of healing), becomes the means of God’s graciousness and forgiveness poured out indiscriminately.  Profound love is given in the death of our savior, Jesus. 

“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. . . he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (2^nd Reading, St Paul to the Phillipians).  For this God exalted him above every other creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth.  The extent of his obedience is striking and conclusive.

Just as healing came to those in the wilderness who looked upon the bronze seraph raised in the desert, so life eternal comes to those who believe in Jesus.  What was merely a pole in the desert displaying death now becomes a cross on a hill, imbued by the Christ.  Bitter though it seems upon first recognition, and never to be understood or proclaimed by the world, the cross is our greatest prize and possession.  It is by accepting our own cross and then turning to the cross of Jesus that we find the most immediate access to God.  In our moments of sadness and sorrow, we find Jesus immediately present.  Do we remember also, in our moments of joy and wonder, that it is even more so the cross to which we may embrace, in gratitude?

Through the cross we die to sin and rise to new life in Christ.  By the sign of this cross we begin our liturgical prayer and private devotion.  Through our baptism we have entered the scourge of death and been redeemed.  We have made the Passover of death into new life through this cross, and Jesus now lives, in the Spirit, within each one of us.  It is through the cross of Jesus that we find our most immediate access to God.

It is incomprehensible to think that death is the way to life, but that is the message of the Feast, the Exaltation of the Cross.  This week, Monday through Friday, our priests and deacons are gathered at St. Mary’s in Montrose in prayerful retreat.  Please pray for them, as we are praying for you, that we all embrace more fully, our most prized gift, the cross of Jesus Christ.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Most Reverend Stephen J. Berg

Bishop of Pueblo